Too Few Over-65s Get Flu Jab
Myths and misunderstandings among the over-65s about the influenza vaccine are resulting in too few taking up the offer of a free annual jab, according to a study in the latest NZ Medical Journal. The influenza vaccination became available free-of-charge to people aged 65 years and over in 1997. Since then the number of people being vaccinated in this age group has increased from 39 percent to 59 percent in 2000, but is still lower than the Ministry of Health's national coverage target of 75 percent.
The study found that the reasons for the less than ideal vaccination rate included that many older people believed the vaccine was unnecessary if they were generally healthy, concern about side effects following vaccination, and some patients also thought influenza could be acquired from vaccination (although this is not the case). In fact, even healthy elderly people benefit from the protection vaccination offers, minor reactions are uncommon and serious side effects are rare, say the researchers. Patients' beliefs that vaccination did not prevent serious disease or reduce their risk of developing complications from influenza were also associated with lower vaccine uptake.
Influenza is seen by many people as a relatively mild illness, but it may have severe consequences and older people are more likely to experience them. Each year, in the NZ over-65 age group, one in 3000 will need hospital admission for influenza, and one in 10,000 will die of it. Immunisation is a safe and effective way of preventing this illness and death.
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